VOTEthe voters newsletterJune • 2013

ECN Stakeholders’ Workshop – Swakopmund

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ECN VOTE NEWSLETTERECN VOTE NEWSLETTER ECN VOTE NEWSLETTER

For the past few years ECN has been busy exploring all available avenues and instruments to make the electoral system more accessible, democratic, transparent and also convenient to all Namibians as well as the other persons and institutions with an interest in the Namibian system. Since 2011 there have been public and or stakeholder consultations on the possible overhaul of the entire electoral law to cater for new developments in our society as well as on the global scene. Secondly, ECN has vowed to keep abreast with advancement

From the Desk of the Editor

Table of Contents

of technology not to cause the electorate suffer the digital divide-syndrome.

Going technology on voters’ registration is on the cards as we speak, as well as voting using the electronic voting machine (EVM) in the near future. Are you with us or have you stayed behind? Get involved or democracy will slip through your fingers.

In their article, “Political Participation and Quality of Life” Weitz-Shapiro and Winters inform us that “theoretical literatures on procedural utility and the psychological benefits of political participation suggest that people who participate in political activities will be more satisfied with their lives because of the resulting feelings of autonomy, competence and relatedness” (Weitz-Shapiro, R. & Winters, M.S, 2008, p.3).

Make partnership with ECN for the advancement of Namibia’s democracy!

The new ECN Commissioner 3

Moving Up 3 & 5

ECN, Political Parties and Civil Society strive to improve Voter Education 4

Durable Voter-Cards 6

Are The Youth Apathetic? 8

Voter Education In Khomas Region 10

ECN Regional voter Education Officers Addresses 12

“ECN ensuring that citizens participate in the democratic

electoral and political process with ease”

VOTE Newsletter is published by the

Electoral Commission of Namibia’s

Democracy Building Division and aims

at disseminating electoral related

information, covering news and

events as they unfold in Namibia and

beyond. VOTE does not necessarily

reflect the official views and opinions

of the management of the Electoral

Commission of Namibia. Text material

may be reprinted or reproduced

freely with the acknowledgements to

VOTE and author, where applicable.

All rights to photographs, illustrations

or any other part thereof are

reserved. Permission to reproduce

must be obtained from the Electoral

Commission of Namibia.

Editor: Hilda Nakakuwa

Contributors:

Division Democracy Building staff

Khomas Region: Voter Education

Officers

Beverly Lamb - Unam Student Intern

Compilation: Gustaf Tomanga

Distribution:

Division Democracy Building.

Contributions are welcome in the

form of articles, news, features and

comments related to electoral issues.

They can be sent to:

The Editor

VOTE Newsletter

ECN HEAD OFFICES

Private Bag 13352

67-71 Van Rhjin Street

Windhoek North

Tel: 061-376 217

Fax: 061-237618

e-mail:hnakakuwa@ecn.na

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ECN VOTE NEWSLETTER

Mr. Nespect Butty Salom was appointed as Commissioner as from 1 March 2013 by His Excellency President Hifikepunye Pohamba to join the ranks of the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN).

Mr. Nespect Butty Salom holds a Master of Philosophy in Special Needs Education from the University of Oslo, Honour’s Degree and a Master in Public Administration, University of Stellenbosch, Bachelor of Art, Post Graduate Diploma in Education and a Specialized Post Graduate Diploma in Special Education from the University of Namibia. Currently, he is registered for a PhD in Public

The New ECN CommissionerAdministration with the University of Namibia.

Mr. Salom has been working as a Youth Officer in the Ministry of Youth and Sport, and a Teacher in a secondary school for nine years. He has been a tutor at the University of Namibia and Institute of Open Learning (I.O.L). He also worked as an Education Officer responsible for HIV and AIDS programs in the education sector, and a Program Coordinator at Center for Global Education at Augsburg College. Currently he is employed a Lecturer at Namibia Institute of Public Administration and Management in the Regional and Local Government Business Center.

Mr. Nespect Butty Salom

Mr. Theo Mujoro is a long-serving staff member of the ECN of more than 12 years, having started at the ECN as Assistant to the Director of Elections in February 2001. Before joining the ECN, he worked initially as a journalist with the Namibia Press Agency (Nampa) and later as Media Liaison Officer and Personal Assistant to the late Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr. Mose Tjitendero.

In January 2009 Mr. Mujoro was promoted to the position of Deputy Director in charge of the Division: Registration & Planning. He held this position until his promotion as Director of Operations in August 2012. Mr. Mujoro is primarily responsible for planning and execution of all electoral operations through overseeing and directing two key divisions namely; Voter Education & Democracy Building as well as the Registration and Planning. He has observed elections in different parts of the world and acquired enormous knowledge

Moving Upand experience in elections administration. He also acquired extensive skills and technical knowhow in election management through participating in various highly specialized courses over the years.

Mr. Mujoro matriculated at Augustineum Secondary School in 1993 and obtained a National Diploma in Public Administration at the Polytechnic of Namibia in 1997. During his tenure at the Polytechnic of Namibia, Mr. Mujoro held the position of Vice President of the Student Representative Council (SRC) and President of the same body in 1996 and 1997 respectively. In the same period, he represented Polytechnic students in the Senate and Council of the Polytechnic of Namibia.

During the 2004 Presidential, National Assembly and Regional Councils Elections Mr. Mujoro was a member of the National Elections Steering Committee. He was Head of Media and

Information Desk at the Central Elections Results Centre. During the 2009 Presidential and National Assembly elections, Mr. Mujoro was Manager of the Central Elections Results Center and was instrumental in various key activities relating to the said elections.

In 2006, Mr. Mujoro received a scholarship from the German Federal Republic through the Internationale Weiterbildung und Entwicklung gGmbH and went to the University of

The Commissioners, manage-ment and the entire staff members of the Electoral Commission of Namibia whole-heartedly welcome Commissioner Salom and wish him all the best during his tenure of office.

Mr. Theo Mujoro

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The Electoral Commission

of Namibia organized a

stakeholders’ workshop for the

civil society organizations and

political parties in Swakopmund

at the beginning of this year.

The workshop was aimed at

training them on the use of

the voter education materials;

Voter Education and Elections

Political Parties and Civil Society strive to improve Voter Education

information to the electorate

and general public. In the same

vein, the booklet and facilitation

guide also aim at ensuring

that the same voter education

teaching methodology is

equally applied in the country

as provided for by the electoral

laws and regulations as well as

Consultants from the University of

Namibia facilitated the sessions

where the participants were

trained on how to utilize the

two voter education materials

and made their valuable

contributions in the quest to

improve voter education and

to provide uniformed electoral

in Namibia booklet and the

Facilitation Guide for Voter

Educators. The voter education

materials were designed to

provide proper guidance to

the voter education officers

and organizations that will

be accredited by the ECN to

conduct voter education to

the electorate and the general

public.

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Erongo Governor, Hon. Cleophas Mutjavikua, delivering his welcoming remarks at the workshop

Participants of the stakeholder workshop

Nico Mingelius of ECN showing the participants how the EVM works

ECN VOTE NEWSLETTERECN VOTE NEWSLETTER

the supreme law of the country,

the Namibian Constitution.

The participants expressed

their appreciation with what

ECN is striving to achieve in

consolidating democratic

principles in the society. They also

made a special request to the

elections management body

to translate these documents

into local languages as well as

to avail these materials to the

stakeholders.

The workshop which took

place from 21-25 January

2013 was officially opened by

ECN chairperson, Advocate

Notemba Tjipueja. Participants

from different political parties and

civil society organizations were

welcomed at the workshop by

the Erongo Governor, Honorable

Cleophas Mutjavikua at the joint

official opening session before

the participants commenced

the sessions at two separate local

hotels due to lack of adequate

space to accommodate them

at the same time.

Participants paying attention during the stakeholders workshop

The chairperson of ECN, Mrs Notemba Tjipueja (left) in

attendance at the workshop

Potsdam in Germany on an official study leave to do a Master’s degree in Public Management.

As part of the requisite master’s program deliverable, Mr. Mujoro did a thesis study titled “The Uranium Factor: Nuclear Power in the Third World, The Case of Namibia” published in May 2007. As Namibia holds one of the earth’s largest deposits of uranium, it is an important question what this country can do in order to increase the benefit of this resource to the country and whether it should build nuclear power plants that use uranium from this deposit. The relevance of these questions has been highlighted by the African Union stating that it is necessary to “devote more effort in the area of the peaceful use of nuclear energy” and by a decision by the Namibian government to consider nuclear power as an option for power generation.

His thesis looks at the socio-economic and political preconditions for successful construction and operation of nuclear power plants in Namibia. In order to have some empirical guidance it looks at the experience of South Korea which, as a developing country, was rather successful in constructing and operating nuclear power plants.

During his time at the University of Potsdam, Mr. Mujoro was selected to represent the Masters of Public Management Class of 06/07 at the European Summer School in The Netherlands and Egmond Aan Zee.

Mr. Mujoro is a US State Alumni and participated in the International Leadership Visitors Program of 2005.

Moving Up from page 3

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The Electoral Commission of Namibia is geared to introduce the new voter registration kit come next general registration of voters which is slated for this year. The new voter registration kit is aimed at replacing the old laminated voter-card which was fragile to both human behavior as well as weather conditions. This fundamental change in the electoral process will see the Namibian citizens inside the country and abroad registered with the improved technology which is a shift from the traditional manual way used over the decades.

The Director of Operations, Mr. Theo Mujoro indicates that the VOTERS REGISTRATION KIT includes new features such as the biometric loaded on the registration system. He says that the kit comprises of a number of advantages as opposed to the old system as it is faster, accurate, time saving and it also adds value to the credibility of the electoral process. This system will enable the registration officials to capture the finger -prints of the applicants and it subsequently helps eliminate the issuance of the duplicates which occurred with old system. As such with the new system registration officials will be able to issue instantly durable and easy to carry voter-cards to the applicants. In other words, the new voter card will be in the form of the Namibian Identity

Document (ID), credit card size and other similar cards such the ATMs just to mention but a few examples. Looking the fast pace on which the new system operates, the ECN will be able to cover more applicants within the reasonable time than before and without delay. “We will deploy these machines to capture voters’ details, issue voter-cards and at the same time download the field data on the ECN server, thus removing the human element. Therefore, with this new system, we will be able to deal with mistakes and errors which happen as a result of staff fatigue,” says the Director of Operations. He added that another important aspect of the machines is that it will definitely add extra value to the electoral process, hence the credibility.

ECN also plans to use the Indian made Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during the up -coming national elections, if the public and stakeholders support the idea. In regard to ECN preparation to roll out this program, the Director of Operations says the election management body still has more than enough time to get its machineries ready for the next Presidential and National Assembly elections slated for 2014. The public and more especially the voters in particular will be informed and educated on how to operate the newly acquired electronic

Durable Voter-CardsBeverly Lamb - UNAM student intern

machines. He emphasizes that voter education and public awareness will be intensified on the machines in order for the voters to get used to them and subsequently operate them without problems. “We wish to launch a voter’s education campaign to educate the public and the voters on the machines with a prime aim to eliminate fear and mistrust as a result of the public perceptions on the machines. The campaign will take shape in different ways, for example exhibitions/demonstrations of the machines at public places and road shows throughout the entire country.” Mujoro says apart from educating the public, they will also have the chance to get a feeling of the machine by means of mock elections. These are important for the people to see and know how the machine actually operates.

The ECN will make sure that the training is offered to trainers of trainers by the company personnel which manufactured the machines from India. This is done in order in case the people face challenges during training, and during elections if the machines are used the EVM manufacturing company will see to it that the ECN has back-up on the ground when the machines are fully operational.

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Technology for the Electoral Processes

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The 2011 National Census shows that Namibia has a very young population, with a median age of 21 years, and 57% of Namibians between the ages of 15 and 59. By the 2014 election, it is projected that over 50% of Namibia’s population will be under the age of 30, and over 50% of the voting population will be under the age of 35. That’s a huge youth vote!

While these numbers tell us that appealing to this large percentage of the electorate will be critical for parties to make a mark in the 2014 elections, the

latest Afrobarometer Survey finds that younger Namibians “show a significant disinterest in public affairs and party politics compared to older Namibians.” In addition to holding a lower preference for democracy than Namibians aged 35 and older, a higher percentage of Namibians aged 18-34 also say that it doesn’t matter to them what kind of government we have.

SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRACY

In the 2009 election, youth claimed an important stake in discussions and dialogue leading up to the

election, because that election marked the first time that the “born-free” (youth born after independence) generation would participate in a Namibian election. Henning Melber (2010) notes that “For the first time a considerable number of young voters were able to express their preferences. During the pre-election build-up these ’born free’, because of their sizeable numbers, were considered to be of some influence as a much speculated unknown variable.” In the weeks leading up to the elections, for example, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Namibia Institute for Democracy (NID) launched a campaign called ‘Listen Loud’ to “capture the views, the perspectives and the priorities of young people about key issues that affect their lives.” (African Election, 2009) using mobile communication technologies. The campaign engaged the born-free youth on the issues of Child Protection, Education, HIV and AIDS, Health and ‘Your Future, Your Vision.’

In addition to this campaign, various media placed a spotlight on the youth vote. Importantly, they noted that “Often the youth vote is overlooked or underestimated by both analysis and political parties

Are The Youth Apathetic?

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alike, and this may be due to the fact that they are cynical about politics in general. Youth must therefore ensure their voices are heard and this can only happen if they turn out in numbers.” (The Namibian, 2009)

In the 2014 election, ‘born free’ will comprise an even bigger chunk of the electorate than in 2009. Despite this, the Afrobarometer points to the a lack of interest in public affairs,

with only 51% of youth in the 18-24 age bracket noting they are interested in public affairs, and only 53% stating that they discuss politics with their friends or family, compared to significantly higher number in the older age groups.

KEY THEMES IN MOBILISING YOUNG VOTERS:

Quality counts: Actual votes per contact will be higher when the contact is more personalized and interactive.

Begin with the basics: Youth people need nuts-and-bolts practical information about how to vote. And efforts that make voting more convenient are quite effective.

The medium matters more than the message: To date, the growing body of experimental research has not found that any type of message works better than another. It is more about making a quality contact.

Young people are easy to incorporate into your lists and turnout programme: Excluding young voters from your turnout efforts is a mistake. The research findings all demonstrate that young people are just responsive to voter contact as older voters.

Initial mobilization makes repeat voters: Successful mobilization in one election raises people’s propensity to vote in subsequent elections. Parties, candidates and interest group should expect long-term benefits from mobilizing youth today.

Source: Election Watch, Issue No.5, 2013

Prime Minister, Dr. Hage Geingob visiting ECN stand at Youth Expo 2012

Youth Expo 2012 Youth updating themselves on electoral information

ECN VOTE NEWSLETTER

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ECN VOTE NEWSLETTER

Voter education is an integral part of Electoral Commission of Namibia. Therefore, ECN has voter education officers in the field.

The work of the voter education officer is to go out into the community and educate, sensitize and inform the citizens on their rights to partake in peaceful political activities as enshrined in the Constitution of Namibia.

It is the right of every citizen who is 18 years or older, to take part in political activities intended to influence the composition of Government whether directly

Voter Education In Khomas Region

or through freely chosen representatives.

The Khomas region voter education team has been in the field on a daily basis. Khomas region consists of 10 constituencies namely Windhoek East, Windhoek West, Katutura East, Katutura Central, John Pandeni, Tobias Hainyeko, Moses Garaeb, Windhoek Rural, Khomasdal North and Samora Machel. The voter education officers insure that every corner in the Khomas region is targeted in the quest to reach out to all the eligible voters and educate them so they can make informed

“... the voter

education

officers go

out into the

community

and educate,

sensitize and

inform the

citizens on

their rights

to partake

in peaceful

political

activities ...”

Voter education to the Namibia Defence Force

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ECN VOTE NEWSLETTERECN VOTE NEWSLETTER

decisions during registration or election time. This is also in view of General Voters Registration (GVR) in 2013 and General national elections of 2014.

We have enhanced our programs from holding community voter education sessions to mini road shows around big shopping centers in the capital in order to cover as many people as possible in preparation for the GVR to kick off on a chosen a date in 2013. We have also been visiting the army bases from time to time to educate the officers and troops. We also visit Old Age Homes, schools, colleges, universities, farms and informal settlements to urge the citizens to take part in the electoral processes of the country, urging them to go register in big numbers and prepare themselves to vote during elections. One of our concerns is voter apathy, we are working hard to minimize voter apathy.

We normally give away promotional items to the attendants after presentations and only after they answer questions based on the presentation.

The promotional items consist of Caps, T-shirts, pencil cases, fridge magnets, key rings, key holders, pens, water bottles, foam caps, card holders and lanyards.

Mr. M. Nalisa, ECN Assistant Voter Education Officer (AVEO) handing over promotional items to some of the learners at various

schools in Windhoek during Voter Education meetings in March 2013.

the voters newsletter

1. Caprivi Region, Caprivi Regional Council, Katima Mulilo Tel: 066-253620 Fax: 066-255621

2. Erongo Region Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare Office – Alpha Koop Building Swakopmund Tel: 064-407261 Fax: 064-404836

3. Khomas Region Old NHE Office-Stop & Shop, Ondoto Street next to Builders Warehouse, Okuryangava, Katutura Tel/Fax: 061-211955

4. Kavango Region Old Kavango Regional Council Complex Rundu Tel: 066-256301 Fax: 066-256256307

5. Kunene Region Old Kunene Regional Council Complex Opuwo Tel: 065-273500 Fax: 065:273054

6. Karas Region Old Kaiserliche Postamt (Opposite Central Park) Jooste Street, Keetmanshoop Tel: 063-222924 Fax: 063-240635

7. Omaheke Region Old Bears Building – Gobabis Tel: 062-564690 Fax: 062-564151

8. Oshana Region, Continental No.1 Building – Oshakati Tel: 065-221042 Fax: 065-221046

9. Ohangwena Region – Eenhana Community Centre – Eenhana Tel: 065-263303 Fax: 065-263074

10. Omusati Region – Tona Trade Office, Erf 578 Nakakandi Mukatala Street, Outapi Tel: 065-251693 Fax: 065-251692

11. Oshikoto Region – Ministry of Agriculture Building, Omuthiyagwiipundi Tel: 065-244011 Fax: 065-224197

12. Otjozondjupa Region – 31-32 Bahnhoff, Hage Geingob Street, Otjiwarongo Tel/Fax: 067-302954

13. Hardap Region - Ert 881 Leonardweg (Opposite Hardap Regional Council Offices), Mariental Tel: 063-240742 Fax: 063-240635

ECN REGIONAL VOTER EDUCATION OFFICES ADDRESSES